At the gravesite, the baby's casket rested with a teddy bear and roses. GENERAL INFORMATION: Red Wing, Mn., Sat., Jan. 24, 2004--Funeral and burial of a baby found near Lake Pepin last fall. The service was at United Lutheran Church and burial at Oakwood Cemetary. (Photo by DUANE BRALEY/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Last month, Ohio police rescued infant twin Ky’air Thomas after accused kidnapper Nalah Jackson abandoned him at an airport. This month his family is grieving his sudden death. The Columbus Division of Police confirmed the infant passed away on Saturday, Jan. 28, at about 11:45 p.m., per NBC4. Ky’air was six months old.
On the night mentioned, police responded to reports of a baby not breathing. After Ky’air was transported to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, medical professionals pronounced him dead. The family spoke with reporter Rodney Dunigan, who revealed Ky’air choked during feeding. An aunt of the twins’ mother, Wilhelmina Barnett, told ABC6 the child choked on milk.
LaFonda Thomas, the paternal grandmother of Ky’air and Kason, also gave a statement to the press. The grandmother was the first to announce that Kason was found safe in an Indiana parking lot three days after being kidnapped in Ohio.
LaFonda said:
“Tonight, we are living a nightmare with the community for a second time in less than a month. I’m questioning God, Lord, why, Ky’air? None of this seems real. I’m begging the community again to have some compassion and empathy while lifting up our family, Kason, and his mother Wilhemnia, LaChez, my son and the twins’ father in prayer.”
They also shared a photo with Dunigan of the infant sitting next to his twin brother Kason hours before his death. Ky’air appears upset in the photo. Police are reportedly still investigating the infant’s death.
The family also reached out to ABC6 to clarify that Ky’air passing was an unfortunate accident. Wilma Booker, an aunt of the twins’ mother, told the outlet she’s “in a state of shock,” “devastated…hurt.” As for Ky’air’s mother, Wilhelmina Barnett, Booker says she’s also in rough shape.
“She’s doing really bad right now. While I wasn’t exactly right there when it happened, my kids were there. Momo (a nickname for Barnett) was feeding the babies, and one of them started choking on the milk and that’s what happened. She immediatley called 911, trying to do chest compression and CPR things to get the baby back at that time, It was just like an accident that happened from feeding the babies and that was it.”
Kason and Ky’air Thomas, whose last name police initially spelled with two s, got national attention after Nalah Jackson kidnapped them on Dec.19. The twins’ mother, Barnett was working as a Door Dash driver and stopped at a pizza restaurant to pick up an order. When she entered the shop, Jackson stole the 2010 Honda Accord with the infants strapped in their car seats in the back.
Hours later, Jackson abandoned Ky’air outside of Dayton International Airport–nearly 70 miles from where Jackson first stole the vehicle. Kason was found abandoned inside the stolen car in an Indianapolis parking lot a few days later. Officials charged Jackson with two counts of kidnapping.
Aunt Booker also assured the press that the twins’ mother “is a really good mom” who “loves her babies.”
She added:
“I don’t want people to judge her like they did last time. I just want that to be known.” Booker also said, “…I’m mostly, mostly, mostly, mostly worried about Wilhelmina. She’s been through so much in the way of social media and everybody has been treating her. I just don’t want her to take a toll on her and want her to keep being the great mom that she is.”
This story is still developing.
